Questions raised from the 2013 Cradle Blogging Tour

– Will New York State hold a suffrage centennial in 2017? If so, who will move the initiative forward?

– Will there be a next step in the federal government’s creation of a Votes for Women trail in NYS’s “Cradle” of the women’s rights movement in the US?

– Is it likely that the NYS Legislature will approve funding to move to the next step on its initiative to create a statewide Women’s Heritage Trail?

– Where are the supporters of rocking the cradle so that New York State can benefit from much-needed economic development from cultural and heritage tourism associated with the 2017 and 2020 suffrage centennials?

As the federal government shutdown continues, the progress on the Votes for Women heritage trail has been put on hold. That project has reached the stakeholder criteria phase, and there’s no way of knowing if and when the next phase will be reached without federal funding. Movement this year on approval for the Harriet Tubman home in Auburn, NY is also on hold. The entire NYS Congressional delegation put its weight behind the idea of the Tubman home becoming a national park. We visited the Tubman home during the 2013 Cradle blogging tour and that story is in the pipeline. As for the prospect of state funding to move forward on a New York State women’s heritage trail, this possibility is also unknown. The state Capitol in Albany, NY is in between sessions and nothing will start moving until the opening of the NYS Legislature in January 2014. Friends and supporters –rub the sand out of your eyes and let’s get moving!